Kati Nicole

Basilica Of The National Vote - Quito - Pichincha - Ecuador
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I am someone who is borderline obsessive compulsive about learning new languages. I have a goal of fluency in 5 languages. I‘m currently fluent in 2 languages and conversational in 3 other languages. For every country I visit, I pick up 20-30 sentences in the local language. I practice words over and over until I can say them correctly. It’s basically an obsession at this point.
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At the same time, I face a lot of anxiety about actually putting my language skills to use. I analyze conversations to death looking for my errors and often times will still be thinking about a mistake in pronunciation hours later. Things that most people probably don’t even notice often drive me nuts for way too long.
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The thing about traveling is that it’s forced me into positions where I’ve had to use language. I’ve been to a variety of countries with many different languages, but even being able to say the simplest things seem to help me relate to people.
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As I’ve traveled there have been many moments where I have bonded with someone because I knew a few words in their native language. My favorite of these moments happened in Tyre, Lebanon. I was with my guide, Hassan, and we were headed into an archeological site. He was busy chatting away with the two men working in the ticket booth, so I decided to read the sign. I studied Arabic for 2 years in college, but my ability to read is similar to that of a toddler. So I literally took my finger and ran it under each letter, phonetically sounding out words. A few minutes later, I realized the conversation had stopped and I looked up to see all three men staring at me, mouths wide with surprise. My guide then started rattling off at me in Arabic asking where I had learned to speak and why I had studied Arabic. From that point forward, he went from being polite and professional, to treating me like an old friend. That ability to at least attempt communication in his language seemed to open up a whole new world.
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Have you had any experiences where a few words in a language made a big difference? Tell me about it in the comments below.
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Spanish version in the comments.